Chelidae

Chelidae
Temporal range:
Spine-necked turtle (Acanthochelys spixii)
Type species of the type genus, Amazon mata mata (Chelus fimbriatus)
Twist-necked turtle (Platemys platycephala)
Snake-necked turtle (Hydromedusa tectifera)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Testudines
Suborder: Pleurodira
Family: Chelidae
Gray, 1831
Genera

Around 20., see text

Chelidae is one of three living families of the turtle suborder Pleurodira, and are commonly called Austro-South American side-neck turtles. The family is distributed in Australia, New Guinea, Eastern Indonesia, and throughout most of South America. It is a large family of turtles with a significant fossil history dating back to the Cretaceous. The family is entirely Gondwanan in origin, with no members found outside Gondwana, either in the present day or as a fossil.

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